Romany

Romany, or Romani, is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 5-6
million Roma people throughtout Europe and the USA. The largest concetration
of Roma people live in Romania. In English these people are often called
Gypsies. The language is closely related to the languages of northern India,
particularly Punjabi, and the Roma are thought to have originally come from
that region. Some people consider Romany to be a group of dialects while
others think there are several, closely-related Romany languages.

The Muslim invasions of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent
around 1000 AD resulted in massive movements of populations, probably including
the ancestors of the Roma, who are thought to have moved into Anatolia. In
1300, after the Mongolian invasion of Europe, the Roma moved west into
Europe and took up a mainly nomadic lifestyle.

Romany alphabet (Romani šib)

This is the official standard alphabet for Romany. It was standardized
in 1990 at the Fourth World Romani Congress in Serock, Poland. This alphabet
is used by all the Romany languages/dialects except Carpathian Romany and
Finnish Romany.

Lovari Roma

The Lovari are subgroup of the Roma people who speak a dialect of Romani
influenced by Hungarian. They live in many parts of Europe, including Hungary,
Romania, Poland, France, Germany, Italy and Greece.

Sample text in Romani

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They
are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another
in a spirit of brotherhood. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)